College hoops announcer suspended for 'choke job' quip

Calling one of his team’s losses a “choke job” has resulted in a gag order for University of North Dakota men’s basketball radio announcer Paul Ralston, who was suspended by the school for two games for making the comment.

According to the Grand Forks Herald, Ralston was disciplined for an incident following UND’s 74-72 overtime home loss to Northern Arizona on Saturday. North Dakota led that game in the final minute, but Northern Arizona rallied to force overtime and eventually win the game, and Ralston referred to the loss as a “choke job” during his post-game interview session with head coach Brian Jones.

In announcing the suspension, UND Athletic Director Brian Faison said that Ralston will miss Wednesday’s game at Northern Colorado and Saturday’s game at Nebraska-Omaha, with associate Athletic director Kyle Doperalski stepping in to handle play-by-play duty. Ralston will return for UND’s game at Portland State on Feb. 28.